Chapter 4 Questions
+ Voices from the Story and Referenced Resources
Think about it
- What did you learn in this story?
- What is the difference between extirpation and extinction?
- Do you understand what makes extinction and natural selection different? Do you think this distinction matters?
- Should we be more or less concerned about hybrid species?
- Should we care more or less about our species in decline?
- What is a stakeholder?
- Why is it important for scientists to consider and consult with different stakeholders when making an important decision?
- How would you weigh different stakeholder perspectives with the science if tasked with making a decision?
- What stakeholders are involved in the issue you're exploring?
- What did you learn from this story?
- Do you think we need more regulations, or fewer regulations?
- Do you trust government decision-making processes? Why or why not?
- Do you think decision-makers overvalue or undervalue science? Or do you think they're striking the right balance?
- What role should science play in making good decisions?
- How should we balance the needs of business and the environment when making laws?
- What do you think is more impactful: scientific research focused on local or national issues?
- What do you think is easier: scientific research focused on local or national issues?
- What's more important: the urgency of the issues identified by science or building long-term consensus around the science in order to create lasting solutions?
- How can science showcase the difficult nature of decision-making?
- As a society, do you think we're patient?
- Why is problem solving and decision-making hard? What makes this process easier?
- What role should ethics play in decision-making?
- Do you agree with Kerry that good ethics is good science?
- How should we weigh differing ethics and values when making a decision?
- Think about an important decision you've made. Did you consider ethics - yours and those of others - before making the decision?
- How do you weigh personal values, peer influence and long-term consequences when making important decisions?
- Why do you think grizzly bears matter?
- Do you think grizzlies are threatened in Canada, or in pockets of the country? Why or why not?
- How can science build on Stephen's research and give us new tools to co-exist with grizzlies?
- What can we learn from Stephen's work with grizzlies that can help us save other endangered or threatened species?
- Do we need to do a better job of considering species in decline when making decisions as a society?
- How much did you already know about invasive species and what information in this story was new to you?
- Do you think we're paying enough attention to this issue in our society?
- How can science help us tackle invasives?
- Are there invasive species in your community? If so, are there any groups or organizations attempting to tackle the issue?
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Referenced Resources
- Coyote and Badger
- The biodiversity crisis in numbers - a visual guide
- Natural Selection & Extinction
- Natural Selection
- The Evolution of Charles Darwin
- Evolutionary Fate Of 'Useless' Traits: Why Some Traits Break Down Quickly While Others Persist Over Time
- Charles Darwin: History's most famous biologist
- From brown to white – evolution of the polar bear
- How Grizzlies Evolved into Polar Bears
- How Polar Bears evolved from Grizzlies to hunt in the Arctic
- 100,000-year-old polar bear genome reveals ancient hybridization with brown bears
- How Did the Polar Bear Evolve From It's Grizzly Relative?
- Polar Bear Evolution Was Fast and Furious
- How species form: What the tangled history of polar bear and brown bear relations tells us
- Eurasian Brown Bear
- Genomic study clarifies the diversity of brown bears across the entire species range
- Canada's grizzly bears move into Arctic north
- Grizzly bears move north in High Arctic as climate change expands range
- Polar Bears Diverged from Brown Bears Fairly Recently
- Polar bear-grizzly bear cross important to species’ evolution, study finds
- As climate warms, grizzly bears and polar bears interbreed
- Will Climate Change Lead to More Grizzly-Polar Bear Hybrids?
- 'Pizzly' bear hybrids are spreading across the Arctic thanks to climate change
- More roads in grizzly bear habitat means more deaths
- Loss of habitat is greatest threat to grizzly bear population, B.C. auditor says
- Grizzlies are coming back. But can we make room for them?
- Studying the genome of mountain goats shows us how they adapted to their environment
- 9 Recently Extinct Animals You Should Know About in 2023
- Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’
- Global loss of wildlife is ‘significantly more alarming’ than previously thought, according to a new study
- Extinction over time
- Global Extinction Rates: Why Do Estimates Vary So Wildly?
- Estimating the normal background rate of species extinction
- Red Foxes Replace Arctic Foxes on a Bering Sea Island
- A tale of two foxes | Wildlife Photographer of the Year
- Climate change threatens Arctic fox's future in Nordic nations
- River Otters Lurking in the Sea: Further Evidence of a Paradigm Shift in Conservation
- DNA Study Reveals the One and Only Wolf Species in North America
- Eastern Wolves Deemed Separate Species
- COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Eastern Wolf Canis sp. cf. lycaon in Canada - 2015
- Eastern Wolf
- How human activities may be creating coywolves
- Western black rhino declared extinct
- How the Western Black Rhino Went Extinct
- Debate rages over extinction rates paper
- Estimating the normal background rate of species extinction
- Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction
- Are we really in a sixth mass extinction?
- Avalanche deaths of woodland caribou endanger herd recovery
- Invading White-Tailed Deer Change Wolf-Caribou Dynamics in Northeastern Alberta
- Invasive species and the environment
- Impacts of Invasive Species on Forest and Grassland Ecosystem Processes in the United States
- Caribou in Canada
- Mapping the decline of Canada's caribou
- Across Canada, caribou are on course for extinction, a prominent expert warns. What happens after that?
- Widespread declines in woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) continue in Alberta
- Is this really the best way to save Alberta's woodland caribou
- Save the Boreal, Save the Caribou
- With limited funds for conservation, researchers spar over which species to save—and which to let go
- Estimating co-extinction threats in terrestrial ecosystems
- We don't need to save endangered species. Extinction is a part of evolution.
- Animal populations experience average decline of almost 70% since 1970, report reveals
- Wild Species 2020: The General Status of Species in Canada
- One out of every five assessed species found to be at risk in Canada
- B.C.'s last spotted owl faces uncertain future
- 6th mass extinction happening now? These scientists say yes
- Has the Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived?
- Will Humans Survive the Sixth Great Extinction?
- The 5 Major Mass Extinctions
- Are We in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction?
- Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction
- Researchers Say We're in a Sixth Mass Extinction. This Time, Humans Are the Culprit
- Earth Is Not in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction
- The Sixth Mass Extinction: fact, fiction or speculation?
- Biodiversity crisis or sixth mass extinction?
- More than 2,000 wild species face a high risk of being wiped out in Canada, report warns
- What Only the CEO Can Do
- The Powers of the Canadian Prime Minister
- Consensus Building And Achieving Consensus Are Not the Same Thing
- Difficult Decisions: The Costs of Consensus
- Consensus building isn't about everyone getting their way
- The impact of stakeholder engagement on local policy decision making
- Indigenous peoples and communities
- There are two kinds of Indigenous governance structures, but Canada has been listening to just one
- Provincial and Territorial Associations
- What is Grassroots Advocacy and Why Does it Matter?
- Recognizing Grassroots Groups
- Take Back Alberta pushes out one premier, aims to make its voice heard in election
- News release: New grassroots Vancouver community group to oppose Jericho Lands luxury high-rise project (Jericho Coalition)
- Leaders ‘never bound’ by Conservative party members’ policy ideas: Pierre Poilievre
- ‘Wolves in green clothing’: Toronto voters have the power to confront fake environmental NIMBYism
- NIMBYism: Nay-saying grumps or neighbourhood activists?
- What is NIMBYism and how is it affecting how much housing is getting built?
- Canadian Labour Congress
- Old growth deferrals will be 'devastating' to business
- BC’s old-growth deferral will have far-reaching consequences
- Old growth deferrals will be 'devastating' to business
- Log drivers protest logging deferrals in Smithers
- Old-growth logging ban would severely damage forest-reliant communities
- B.C. Chamber of Commerce hugs old-growth trees
- Independent study finds old-growth forests worth more standing than harvested on Vancouver Island
- Canadian Chamber of Commerce
- How a new ‘nature economy’ is transforming the fight for B.C.’s ancient forests
- B.C. old-growth ban could clear cut forest economy
- Registered charities and non-profit organizations
- Stantec
- Rethinking the life of a mine through mine closure planning
- Four Types of Impact Assessment Used in Canada
- Impact Assessment Act ( SC 2019, c. 28, s. 1)
- Getting past the conflict and confusion on environmental assessment
- Fisheries Act ( RSC , 1985, c. F-14)
- Basics of Impact Assessments
- Keystone Pipeline
- Doug Ford Will Cut Red Tape To Create Good Jobs
- Doug Ford is clear-cutting Ontario's environmental laws
- A Cleaner, Greener Future
- Access to Justice, Community Justice Help and Legal Empowerment
- The battle over Bill C-69: Oil industry, government at odds as project review bill heads to Senate hearing
- 'Absolutely devastating': Kvisle blasts feds' regulatory overhaul
- It's not just taxes — here is what's really killing Canada's competitiveness
- Enbridge
- NEB lacks public trust, poll suggests
- A Matter of Fact: Opponents of Line 5 ignore safety record and planned improvements for critical pipeline
- Despite an outstanding track record, Canadian pipeline licensees can still do more
- ‘The status quo is really bad’: Dan Gardner on how to get big things done, and why we are currently so bad at it
- Just ask! The importance of Community Consultation.
- Consultation and Engagement
- Meaningful Consultation: Happy Days or Project Delays
- A 'duty to consult' aboriginals is no excuse to delay project approvals
- Community as Governor: Exploring the role of Community between Industry and Government in SLO
- Canada's economic engine is gearing down
- The bad economic times have only just started
- Stagnant regulations impair innovation and economic growth
- Don't Let “Perfect” Be the Enemy of “Good”
- When Perfect Is (and Isn't) the Enemy of Good
- When it comes to politics, it's not disagreeing that's the problem — it's that we like each other less
- A respectful Canada has room for disagreement
- Great Bear Rainforest agreement highlights
- Les Leyne: Accord expands Great Bear protection
- First Nations have created a robust conservation economy in Great Bear Rainforest
- Great Bear Rainforest partners and communities
- Negotiating Environmental Governance: Lessons from the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements in British Columbia, Canada
- Most of Great Bear Rainforest now protected from logging
- Disagreement Doesn't Have to Be Divisive
- The art of political persuasion
- The Dying Art of Disagreement
- Trudeau's net-zero regs push unnecessary fight with provinces
- Western alienation: Let's be clear, the West didn't pull away until it was pushed away
- Heavy-handed interventions from governments aren’t the answer to hesitancy, building trust is
- Ottawa’s heavy-handed approach undermines carbon tax incentives
- Justin Trudeau just axed his own carbon tax
- Far and Widening: The Rise of Polarization in Canada
- Centre for Constitutional Studies
- Trudeau's carbon tax exemptions are causing drama and western provinces are mad
- Pierre Poilievre's path to victory could run through the culture wars
- Doug Ford uses the notwithstanding clause for political benefit
- With Bill 96, François Legault is trying to tiptoe out of Canada’s constitutional order
- Scott Moe vows notwithstanding clause after judge halts pronouns policy
- Danielle Smith says she is prepared to use Alberta sovereignty act against feds' net-zero grid plan
- Does Canadian Federalism Amplify Policy Disagreements?
- The Silent, Creeping Constitutional Crises facing Canada
- Failures of federalism abound
- What ails us
- Good Leaders Know You Can't Fight Reality
- Accepting a Reality That Feels Unacceptable
- The Only Crash Diet to Use to Lose Weight Fast
- The Risks of the Crash Diet
- What Is The Tom Brady (TB12) Diet?
- The Incrementalist
- The Power of the Incrementalism Theory
- Radical vs incremental change: what is the difference?
- National Loon Center
- Nature Needs Half
- The plan to turn half the world into a reserve for nature
- Should we set aside half for nature?
- If we want a whole Earth, Nature Needs Half
- Why gradualists are usually right and radicals are wrong
- On democratic intelligence and failure: The vice and virtue of incrementalism under political fragmentation and policy accumulation
- Against Incrementalism
- How Incrementalism Destroys Progress
- Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’
- Stop biodiversity loss or we could face our own extinction, warns UN
- A ‘Crossroads’ for Humanity: Earth’s Biodiversity Is Still Collapsing
- IPBES
- Endangered Ecosystems Alliance
- Twenty years later, the “War in the Woods” at Clayoquot Sound still reverberates across B.C.
- When should democracy be about consensus and when about conflict?
- Letters to the editor, January 2018: ‘Consensus was never possible’
- 90% of Life is Showing Up
- Woody Allen Said Show Up to Succeed. Is This What He Meant?
- As every statistician knows, 50 plus 1 is not always clear
- Policy Making for the Long Term in Advanced Democracies
- Politics and disengagement: Two-in-five say there’s “no room” for compromise in Canada; most say their interests are ignored
- Is there such thing as complete consensus?
- The Positives of Political Polarization
- Not all polarization is bad, but the US could be in trouble
- Erosion of middle ground has echoes of the 1930s
- 'Massive failure': The world has missed all its biodiversity targets
- New economic adviser on deck in the Prime Minister's Office
- Acid rain and air pollution: 50 years of progress in environmental science and policy
- The Turning Point on Acid Rain
- Development of the Convention
- Incremental Doesn't Mean Slow
- What are the limits of bioethics in a culturally pluralistic society?
- Dr. Kerry Bowman
- Nature didn’t drop this bomb. We dropped it on nature
- Historic Amazon rainforest fires threaten climate and raise risk of new diseases
- Environmental Ethics
- The human-nature relationship The emergence of environmental ethics
- COVID-19 outbreak: How we deal with animals and the environment threatens human health
- How COVID-19 made Canada comfortable with marginalizing 3.7 million people
- Brazil's election could determine the fate of the Amazon after surging deforestation
- 14 amazing space and astronomy discoveries of the 21st century so far
- Top 10 space stories of 2021
- Are people losing faith in the ability of science to provide answers?
- Canadians' trust in science falling, poll suggests
- Researchers study the global decline of insect populations
- There was a 64% reduction of Australian sea lion pups between 1977 and 2019 due to hunting, entanglement in fishing gear or other marine debris and disease.
- Animal populations experience average decline of almost 70% since 1970, report reveals
- Ecosystems might lose 27% of vertebrate diversity by 2100
- Number of species at risk of extinction doubles to 2 million, says study
- Food, soil, water: how the extinction of insects would transform our planet
- Stop biodiversity loss or we could face our own extinction, warns UN
- Biodiversity loss raises risk of 'extinction cascades'
- Canada, host of the UN biodiversity summit, is struggling to meet its own targets
- On the Virtue of Compromise
- The Charter at 40: An Historic Canadian Compromise
- Canadians deserve a real pipeline compromise
- Countries reach climate deal at COP26, compromise on coal
- Political compromises – like the debt-limit deal – have never been substitutes for lasting solutions
- Compromise is a Failure in Continuous Improvement
- The Great Canadian Compromise: The Canada Letter
- Canada is ‘a bad compromise, an evil gift that keeps giving, mostly trouble’
- National Post View: Another "values charter," even a watered-down one, won't bring anything positive to Quebec
- Politics and disengagement: Two-in-five say there’s “no room” for compromise in Canada; most say their interests are ignored
- Minor tweaks won't fix major flaws in Bill C-69
- Why critics fear Bill C-69 will be a 'pipeline killer'
- It's not just taxes — here is what's really killing Canada's competitiveness
- Survey suggests Albertans' sense of alienation from Ottawa divided along political lines
- Western alienation is very real in Alberta and Saskatchewan
- Polarized Canada needs to find common ground
- Perspectives on gene editing
- The global governance of human cloning: the case of UNESCO
- Debate ethics of embryo models from stem cells
- AI risks leading humanity to 'extinction,' experts warn
- Before worrying about AI's threat to humankind, here's what else Canada can do
- Conservation and colonialism – A Statement from the Southern Africa Community Leaders Network
- ‘We didn’t accept it’: DRC minister laments forcing through of Cop15 deal
- Fortress conservation is heading for a crisis that can’t come soon enough
- Why Brazil's Indigenous land — home to uncontacted tribes — needs to be protected: researcher
- Environmental degradation of indigenous protected areas of the Amazon as a slow onset event
- Why the Amazon's Biodiversity is Critical for the Globe
- Far and Widening: The Rise of Polarization in Canada
- Mass Polarization in Canada: What’s Causing It? Why Should We Care?
- Natural Selection & Extinction
- Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee
- Grizzlies change habits to coexist with people—but is it enough?
- Grizzlies Are Coming to Town. Can the West Live With Them?
- Grizzlies are coming back. But can we make room for them?
- Grizzlies get into garbage cans in Rocky Mountain House, officials close trails
- Grizzly bears wandering in B.C. cities reflect 'kind of a weird year' for wildlife: biologist
- Climate change is affecting bears, and humans need to learn more to avoid conflicts
- Grizzly death pushes Parks past threshold
- Animals Are Running Out of Places to Live
- Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth ecosystems
- This B.C. valley has become a death trap for young grizzly bears
- Natural Selection & Extinction
- Invasive Species Council of BC
- Alien Invasion: 10 Invasive Species found in B.C.'s Parks
- Destructive, invasive wild pigs in Alberta have breached national park boundary for 1st time
- Every fish in B.C.'s Emerald Lake may have to be killed after signs of rare parasite detected
- Increase in invasive species poses dramatic threat to biodiversity – report
- 10 invasive species threatening Canadian habitats
- Invasive alien species on the rise worldwide
- Invasive Species Economic Impacts
- Invasive Mussels found in Moss Ball products in Canada
- European Fire Ant
- How a grassroots group helped save an endangered turtle in southern Ontario
- Invasive species
- Canada should embrace invasive species